CENTRE FOR SAFETY & WELL-BEING FOR WOMEN, YOUNG PEOPLE, CHILDREN, ESCAPING FAMILY & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE -

PHONE (08) 9398 5080 (M-F 9.00am to 5.00pm) or   

PHONE (08) 9458 1107 (24hours/ 7 days)

The Centre for Safety & Well-Being provides safe and secure crisis accommodation for women with accompanying children experiencing family and domestic violence in their homes or community.

Our Women's Advocate Support Team and Child Advocate Support Team specialise in supporting women and children during this difficult time and can offer:

·         accommodation  

·         referral services

·         advocacy

·         emotional support

·         budgeting advice

·         support with legal matters

·         other support services

If you do not yet feel ready to leave but sometimes fear for you or your children's safety, whether you are planning to stay in the relationship, are thinking about leaving or have left for good. No-one knows your situation as well as you do, so think carefully about how to keep you and your children safe.

Domestic violence is an abuse of power. It occurs when one person in an intimate relationship engages in behaviour that causes fear or harm to the other person.

You can get assistance, information and support and you are not alone.

Please contact us if you would like assistance.

If you decide you would like the Crisis Care Freecall 1800 199 008 or 9223 1111 to arrange Centre space for you, you will be asked for your name (you only have to give your first name if you prefer) and the ages of any children who are with you. You will need to give a telephone number on which you can be called back when accommodation has been found for you. This can be a telephone box, as long as it takes incoming calls, or a mobile phone, or it could be at a friend's house, a health centre or any other safe place where you are able wait for any return calls.

When Centre accommodation has been found for you, a member of staff or a volunteer from the organisation will discuss with you how you can get there. They may arrange to meet you at their office or somewhere else which is easy to find. If they do give you the address and the location of the Centre, it is important that you keep this information to yourself, and that you take care not to leave any of this information behind (thus enabling your location, or the address or telephone number of the Centre, to be traced).

  

As a guide, try to take the following with you to the Centre:

·         Identification.

·         Birth certificates for you and your children.

·         School and medical records, including the telephone numbers of the school and your GP or surgery.

·         Money, bankbooks, cheque book and credit and debit cards.

·         Keys for your house, car, and workplace.

·         Driving licence (if you have one) and car registration documents, if applicable.

·         Prescribed medication, and vitamin supplements.

·         Cards or payment books for Child Benefit and any other Centrelink benefits you are entitled to

·         Passports (including passports for all your children if you have them), visas and work permits.

·         Copies of documents relating to your housing tenure, (for example, mortgage details or lease and rental agreements).

·         Current unpaid bills.

·         Insurance documents.

·         Address book.

·         Family photographs, your diary, jewellery, small items of sentimental value.

·         Clothing and toiletries for you and your children.

·         Your children's favourite small toys.

Not all women will need all of these items, and there may be some items that you would need to take that have not been included in this list, but this is a general guide.

You will usually be able to stay as long as you need to - from a couple of days to several months - though some Centres have a maximum length of stay. Many women stay in Centres for a break from the violence, a breathing space with time to think away from danger. Some women decide to return to their partners.

However long you decide to stay, you can be as sociable or as quiet as you want to. Should you want it, there is support and advice available, but no one at the Centre will make you do anything you don't want to do.

Yes, in most cases. If you choose to leave the Centre but later need safe accommodation again, you and your children will be able to go back, either into the same or another Centre, depending on space and availability at the time you need it.

If you were asked to leave a Centre because you broke the terms of the tenancy agreement, it may not be possible for you to return to the same house. You may be referred to Centre accommodation elsewhere, or another safe place will be found for you.

You can also use the Centre organisation for information, friendship and support when you are no longer a resident. Starick Services provides outreach services to women and children who have left or have never gone into the Centre can use for support and contact.

You can return home from the Centre at any point. You may decide to return with an injunction. You may decide you want to be re-housed elsewhere. The choice is yours, and Women's Advocate Support Team (WAST) will give you information about the various options in order to help you to decide what you want to do. They will also help you to get advice regarding joint property and mortgage agreements.

Do not agree to sign any documents relating to the tenancy or ownership of your home until you have taken legal advice.

You can call our Centre for Safety and Well-Being on (08) 9398 5080 or (08) 9458 1107